Sunday, October 26, 2008

BUPRENORPHINE FOR ADDICTION:

A resource largely ignored by addiction specialists and other psychiatrists. A just-published survey found that three years after approval of buprenorphine for office-based addiction treatment, 90% of addiction specialists were "waivered" and two-thirds prescribed it. Among psychiatrists not specializing in addiction, however, fewer than 10% prescribed buprenorphine. It is sad - but understandable - that the authors ignored non-psychiatrists because they anticipated they would be (even!) less likely "to know about and have interest in prescribing buprenorphine."(CP Thomas and co-authors; Psych Services 59:909-916, 2008)